Ivan_P Here are the color filter glasses I use: https://www.amazon.com/GloFX-Color-Therapy-Glasses-Chakra/dp/B073PM1JF1

Specifically the red versions. I tried the orange and blue versions and they did nothing for me. And all the other varieties of "blue light blocking" glasses I've tried don't help at all either. But it is specifically these red ones which give me immediate relief that nothing else can.

They don't entirely "fix" a screen, but even when I was stuck with the atrocious 14" mini-LED 2021 MacBook Pro (the worst and hardest to read screen EVER) they at least barely got me through work during that time of my life, when previously I couldn't work at all, so they definitely improve things and very consistently too.

In addition, they work even better with older screens that "have pretty decent output but still cause eye pain". For example, an old 2014 ASUS T100TA netbook with an AUO panel that does give me eye strain, yet despite that is also uniquely easy for me to read (compared to modern screens where I immediately feel confused while reading) I was able to massively improve with these glasses. Now I can finally use that netbook daily.

(For reference, the 2012 IdeaPad Yoga 13 with LP133WD2-SLB1 panel is still the only laptop that I am 100% perfect using "normally", it is fully readable and I get nearly zero strain, with no glasses or other physical workarounds needed at all.)

By the way, many times these color filter glasses even help the real world feel more relaxing too for me, sometimes I use them to simply feel more focused and energetic while just getting some chores done etc.

I also met someone else IRL with very similar symptoms to me recently, I let them try the glasses, and they said it immediately improved their iPhone 11 which they typically have a lot of problems with.

In addition, you can use the NegativeScreen Windows app to filter the screen entirely red, which sometimes works even better in combination with the glasses (some laptops benefit a ton from this, some not at all, YMMV)

      DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs thanks for providing such a detailed explanation!

      I'll try those glasses and write a feedback when will be ready 🤓

        DisplaysShouldNotBeTVs I have a similar red filter glasses and i can feel it kind of makes text easier to read (maybe it helps with my astig?)

        one thing i noticed is that if you ever use all red mode + night mode, it helps to filter out the led light at the black area, improving the contrast

            gatorade185 monochrome glasses by the way can simply filter some flickering light coming from the screen. Overall flicker amount is reduced and it can give some short-term relief

              Small discovery. When using the XDR Upscale the screen will flicker like crazy when using Flash screen updates for debugging in Quartz Debug. Not entirely sure what it is, but it could be related to the observed blotching that gets activated.

              The new coming M4 Macbook Pro is supposed to feature the a new video engine A18. You think that will fix this whole issue?

              macsforme @async few weeks ago I was playing with macbook intel and macbook m3 to compare how dithering looks like under microscope. And I noticed that intel dithering is more soft than M3. On M3 it was more aggressive with some red pixels blinking pretty fast. I will prepare a video and upload here.

                12 days later

                I found these settings are the best for me using external monitor via USB-C for high focus work. I know it is a bit weird that YCBCR is better, but I guess it just add noise which helps.

                  Donux ycrb 4:4:4 does not add noise. 4:2:2 does. So don't stress about that. Both are as good, but can be different depending on if using a hdmi cable, and how the monitor processes the signals. There are definitely subtle differencess.

                    I actually take it back. It just does not work, and I can not use it. And it is not screen, it is GPU unit. You can tweak endlessly, its garbage in -> garbage out type of situation 🙂

                    2 months later

                    wlmsn TB = Touch Bar, aka the lower end 13" (the 13" -- not the 14"!) M2 MacBook Pro model with a touchscreen strip above the keyboard (instead of function keys), only two USB-C ports, and no notch.

                    It's the one that has the "MacBook Pro" text below the screen instead of a blank space.

                    (Not to be confused with the M1 Air or M2 Air. It's still a Pro but based off the older Intel-era design despite having an M2 chip)

                        Has anyone tried this on the new M4 Mac Mini? I'm a PC user but considering buying one as there is some particular software I'd like to use (which is for Mac only).

                        I do not know how can you make tests just based on laptop with assumption that panel is faulty. I have reached out to the Benq about PD2705Q 2k monitor, and they have confirmed it is true 8bit monitor. So the fact it causes eye strain when plugged to macbook Air M is very alarming. And with all the betterDisplay tweaks that can be done there, it is clear that its the GPU unit that has an issue mainly. Panel technology is as random and flickery as it used to be, no change there. So it must be that Pro GPU units is a totally different breed in comparison to Air GPU units. Its not the same thing at all, but from product specification some may assume it is fanless macbook pro with fewer cores. So in a way on external montor M1, M2, M3, M4 or whatever, should produce the same results on external monitor. (Maybe M4 will have more lessons learned and incremental improvements). Only the panel lottery can be justified by picking Macbook pro M2 13 which does come with that older display from intel era.

                        hello, does this work on M4?

                        I've just came across this post… very brilliant work!
                        I've tried to download the tool and open it. My screen recording is still showing a difference full of satatic-like signal regardless whether the option in the tool is enabled or disabled. Though running the command line to check dithering it shows that it changes state from on to off or vice-versa.

                        My laptop M3 14" with Sequoia 15

                          In terms of built-in IPS display I've found the following 2 strange bugs in Macbook Air M3 15''. This makes image quality unstable poor, makes some visual interference, makes pressure on eyes.
                          It must be a video driver bugs, software level bugs. If those 2 things can be fixed. Then I hope image quality will be as stable and good as it was in Macbook pro 2014 IPS display.
                          Can someone help to fix the following things?

                          1.

                          Brightness F1-F2 flickering bug.

                          I. if Autobrightness is OFF - brightness F1-F2 changes smoothly ONLY WHEN ANY video player is active: Chrome-Youtube, QuickTime Player, etc…
                          II. if Autobrightness is ON - brightness F1-F2 changes smoothly ALWAYS, even player is active or not.

                          So if Autobrightness is OFF, then flickery effect appears when video player NOT active.

                          If Autobrightness is ON - some instability in plain colours also there, but less visible. Plain colours still are not as comfortable and stable as it is in MBP 2014 15'' IPS.

                          Also noticed that when I use QuickShade App (simple screen shader app) then interference in plain colours are more visible and annoying. Semitransparent black shader makes more visible color interference. When I use same QuickShade App on my MBP 15'' 2014 IPS - no such effect, all colors shaded evenly.

                          Request to Apple: when Autobrightness is OFF - I prefer to have smooth brightness changing F1-F2 ALWAYS, even if video player is NOT active (Chrome-Youtube, QuickTime Player, etc…) AND plain colours without interference when not using video player.

                          It can be a bug in video driver, power save optimisation (but I never use any power save options in settings), light sensor work, or combo, or something else

                          Shown in the video:

                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwvKZHFK-T8
                          https://youtube.com/shorts/SwvKZHFK-T8

                          2.

                          Gradient is not smooth - Lagom test.

                          http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/gradient.php

                          I compare same videos using 2 Macbooks (2014 Pro and 2023 Air) and notice that 2014 Pro much smoother in terms of gradients. How to make gradients in 2023 Air stable and smooth?

                          Shown in the video:

                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qioIge95HsU

                          ===

                          Request to Apple:

                          If so many people (current users of Macbook Air M3 IPS) feel uncomfortable with the default software / driver display settings, our goal is to push Apple to add into Settings some option to manage those things. If one-of-a-kind PhD wants to use it - he can turn it ON. But other 99.9% of users prefer to turn it OFF…

                          Add to Display Settings:

                          - On/Off instability in plain colours (especially black text on a white or light background), simple shaders all colours shaded evenly.
                          - On/Off F1-F2 flickering (auto gamma)

                          - On/Off Gradients not smooth - gradient algo to make Lagom test smooth

                          It will satisfy majority of the users. The only way is flexibility in settings to make display comfortable for different eyes.

                          ===

                          Here I've created new topic with detailed info on my MBA. Any useful info, please, share.
                          In case you've sent feedback to Apple - make a post:

                          https://ledstrain.org/d/3114-macbook-air-15-m3-ips-display-bugs-brightness-f1-f2-flickering-gradients

                          ==

                          I wrote to Apple's support. When 15.0 15.1 15.1.1 were released. But didn't get any result.
                          Hope power of Ledstrain community will help Apple to fix those bugs.
                          Use official feedback website to send to Apple those bugs and ask to fix them…

                          I use iPhone 11 - best IPS display

                          I use Macbook Pro 2014 15’’ - best IPS display, comfortable for work during whole day
                          https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/

                          Those 2 issues I've tested on various people. All of them notice those bugs. So I would say it affects not 1.5%- 2% of the customer, but the majority 90-100%. You can send whole this text to Apple with the links.

                          Thank you

                          Donux I did not say that it relieved any discomfort. I said I tried the tool but the screen recording still showing the same result regardless whether the dithering option in the tool is disabled or enabled. That is to say, probably the tool is not working under this XOS version? or something else is wrong I am not quite sure.

                              dev